A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size
QuikSCAT data of near-surface wind vectors for the years 1999–2008 are used to create a climatology of tropical cyclone (TC) size, defined as the radius of vanishing winds. The azimuthally-averaged radius of 12 ms−1 [ms superscript -1] wind (r12) [r subscript 12] is calculated for a subset of TCs (...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union
2011
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64407 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2066-2082 |
| _version_ | 1826207281887313920 |
|---|---|
| author | Chavas, Daniel Robert Emanuel, Kerry Andrew |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Chavas, Daniel Robert Emanuel, Kerry Andrew |
| author_sort | Chavas, Daniel Robert |
| collection | MIT |
| description | QuikSCAT data of near-surface wind vectors for the years 1999–2008 are used to create a climatology of tropical cyclone (TC) size, defined as the radius of vanishing winds. The azimuthally-averaged radius of 12 ms−1 [ms superscript -1] wind (r12) [r subscript 12] is calculated for a subset of TCs (N = 2154) whose centers of circulation were clearly identifiable via subjective analysis of the QuikSCAT-analyzed wind field. The outer radius, r0 [r subscript 0], is determined from r12 [r subscript 12] using an outer wind structure model that assumes no deep convection beyond r12 [r subscript 12]. The global median values of r12 [r subscript 12] and r0 {r subscript 0] are 197 km and 423 km, respectively, with statistically significant variation across ocean basins. The global distribution of r12 [r subscript 12] is found to be approximately log-normal, the distribution of r0 [r subscript 0] is quantitatively much closer to log-normal, and the improvement in fit between r12 [r subscript 12] and r0 [r subscript 0] is attributed to the combined effect of the nature of the model employed and the paired distributions of r12 [r subscript 12] and f. Moreover, the normalization employed by Dean et al. (2009) is found to weaken rather than improve the log-normal fit. Finally, within a given storm, both r12 [r subscript 12] and r0 [r subscript 0]tend to expand very slowly with time early in the storm lifecycle and then becomes quasi-constant, though significant variance exists across storms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:46:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/64407 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:46:54Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/644072022-09-28T16:07:59Z A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size Chavas, Daniel Robert Emanuel, Kerry Andrew Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Emanuel, Kerry Andrew Chavas, Daniel Robert Emanuel, Kerry Andrew QuikSCAT data of near-surface wind vectors for the years 1999–2008 are used to create a climatology of tropical cyclone (TC) size, defined as the radius of vanishing winds. The azimuthally-averaged radius of 12 ms−1 [ms superscript -1] wind (r12) [r subscript 12] is calculated for a subset of TCs (N = 2154) whose centers of circulation were clearly identifiable via subjective analysis of the QuikSCAT-analyzed wind field. The outer radius, r0 [r subscript 0], is determined from r12 [r subscript 12] using an outer wind structure model that assumes no deep convection beyond r12 [r subscript 12]. The global median values of r12 [r subscript 12] and r0 {r subscript 0] are 197 km and 423 km, respectively, with statistically significant variation across ocean basins. The global distribution of r12 [r subscript 12] is found to be approximately log-normal, the distribution of r0 [r subscript 0] is quantitatively much closer to log-normal, and the improvement in fit between r12 [r subscript 12] and r0 [r subscript 0] is attributed to the combined effect of the nature of the model employed and the paired distributions of r12 [r subscript 12] and f. Moreover, the normalization employed by Dean et al. (2009) is found to weaken rather than improve the log-normal fit. Finally, within a given storm, both r12 [r subscript 12] and r0 [r subscript 0]tend to expand very slowly with time early in the storm lifecycle and then becomes quasi-constant, though significant variance exists across storms. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant ATM‐ 0850639) 2011-06-10T17:03:19Z 2011-06-10T17:03:19Z 2010-09 2010-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0094-8276 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64407 Chavas, D. R., and K. A. Emanuel. “A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size.” Geophysical Research Letters 37.18 (2010) : n. pag. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2066-2082 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010gl044558 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Chavas, Daniel Robert Emanuel, Kerry Andrew A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| title | A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| title_full | A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| title_fullStr | A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| title_full_unstemmed | A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| title_short | A QuikSCAT climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| title_sort | quikscat climatology of tropical cyclone size |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64407 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2066-2082 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chavasdanielrobert aquikscatclimatologyoftropicalcyclonesize AT emanuelkerryandrew aquikscatclimatologyoftropicalcyclonesize AT chavasdanielrobert quikscatclimatologyoftropicalcyclonesize AT emanuelkerryandrew quikscatclimatologyoftropicalcyclonesize |